The Tobacco Factory’s traditionally untraditional Family Christmas show follows familiar ground with Snow White, the third such collaboration with New International Encounter theatre company.
Audiences do not habitually expect the expected in this part of Southville and will not be disappointed with an updated take on the classic fairy tale. At the outset we are treated to musical education about a mystical time long long ago where there was no Wi-Fi, PlayStation had not been invented and people hadn’t even thought about voting Green. The six part cast tell a mystical story full of invention, drama and silliness, while also making up a fabulous band performing genuinely funny and harmonious original songs.
Grimm’s fairy tales need to be grim to be truly authentic and this aspect is provided in bucketfuls by Stefanie Mueller as the most fantastically wicked and watchable Step Mother. Rather than pure evil from the outset she is most definitely caught up in a beauty paranoia, with the mirror routine capturing real menace. The animalistic noises provided by the cast behind the mirror ooze a sort of blood lust for affirmation of her being the fairest in the land while she arches her back and glories in the adoration. Jodie Davey’s Snow White is suitably sweet and full of goodness, all the more so for her eschewing of girly affectation and she is more at home exploring the woods, messing up her hair and getting muddy. Abayomi Oniyide’s Jacob the gamekeeper retains a startled innocence as he is entrusted with the murderous deed, delivered in a delightfully off the cuff way by the evil Queen and his warning to Snow White is delivered with a rap of real emotion.
The second Act is more concerned with the alternative world of the Earth Burghers who befriend the fleeing Snow White and much fun is had with the numerically challenged cast of four counting and recounting until the mystical ‘Seven’ are introduced, in concept if not in fact. Alex Murdoch leads the motley patchwork vegan crew consisting of a former Investment Banker, a butcher and a Taxi Cab manager and there is sufficient silliness that overcomes any tendency to make the ecological message too preachy. A song opens after the interval in praise of vegetables and the jokes follow in similar vein for the next hour, albeit in a slightly obvious manner.
The set, also by Mueller, is simple but effective with particularly clever use of the mirror and the patchwork Yurt home dwelling of the Earth Burghers.
Joey Hickman who composed the music with Elliot Davis, generates much laughter with his splendidly naïve Caleb while Oniyide’s Robin is wonderfully curmudgeonly in a New Age way. Richard de Winter’s character is strangely under drawn and some of the artifices around killing Snow White go on a bit, but ultimately Alex Byrne’s assured direction allied to the need to get the audience on side make this show a great introduction to the festive period. Just don’t expect a straight telling. ★★★★☆ Bryan Mason 3rd December 2019
Photo by Mark Dawson
